2015 Last Man Standing Promo 1

(Back row) Tim McClure Keith Martin Steven Leckey Jonny Stevenson Gary Knox Charlie McCrum (Front Row) Maning Nigade Matthew Lyttle David Marshall Steven Hanna Alan Harland

With 2 wins from the last 3 games Donaghcloney 1st XI finish second in the league and gain promotion back up into Section 1. Wins over Drumeness and Victoria secured promotion going into the last week of the season. Academy needed to lose to Victoria and Cloney beat Armagh to be league champions. Unfortunately with a depleted side, Donaghcloney traveled to The Mall where Armagh proved too strong on this the last day of the season. Armagh posted 180 and Donaghcloney managed 99 in reply and it was the bowling of the experienced Davie Bullock who had figures of 5 for 13 that proved the difference in the two sides. The outcome of the match mattered little as Academy ran out easy winners against Victoria and secured the the Section 2 league title. Skipper Keith Martin said “Its been a good season for us. I think it was important to bounce back up into Section 1 after relegation last year. We have had the odd hiccup along the way and at times made life difficult for ourselves but managed to secure second spot and go up. Looking back on the year Mansing has been superb for us with nearly 1000 runs and Steven Hanna  has been excellent with the ball claiming 40 wickets. Steven Leckey has been a major boost to the squad this year and he has put in consistent performances with bat and ball. Likewise Charlie McCrum who has played for Donaghcloney this year has added to our batting and bringing his wealth of experience to the squad. Next year will be tough and the younger members of the squad like Phil Derby, Matthew Lyttle and Jonny Stevenson need to be putting in more consistent performances if we are to compete in Section 1.”

It wasn’t only the 1st XI who got promoted this year but the second XI finished 2nd in Junior League 3 and will their successful season will see them in up in Junior League 2. With 10 wins from their 13 games they finished 2nd in the league to Carrickfergus. The second XI have benefited from a stronger and bigger 1st XI squad this year meaning the they have had a much more balanced team themselves. Runs have come from Steven Lyttle who has blasted his way to nearly 400 runs this year and ably supported by Richie Clydesdale, Gareth Copeland and Richard Lyttle. Wickets have been shared out throughout the team with Willie Fisher and the two Joy brothers Justin and Jobin taking wickets week in and week out. Colin Derby who has captained the team this year said “It’s been a team performance from start to finish. All the boys have pitched in and got runs or wickets when we needed them. We are all looking forward to next year where Junior League 2 and we can hopefully prove we are capable of competing at that level.”

Donaghcloney  3rd XI finished a respectable 3rd in their league Junior 8. This league was dominated by Muckamore and Academy 4th XI where Donaghcloney won 6  of their 13 games played. Skipper Raymie Matthews said “Our team is a mixture of youth and experience. Its great that Donaghcloney can put out a 3rd XI week in and week out and hopefully next year we can up our performance a level or two. We have a great youth structure at the moment and that can only filter through into the rest of the club. We are looking forward to what next year brings.”

Keith Ogle in his first year as Chairman of the club said “It’s been a great year for Donaghcloney Cricket Club. Obviously we are delighted both the 1st and 2nd XI got promoted but the Under 11’s winning their league and finishing runners up in their cup competition for me is the highlight. This is where the future of the club lies and where the future of village cricket as we know it. If cricket is to survive kids have to be given the opportunity to play week in and week out, only then can they grow to love the sport. Donaghcloney has come a long way in the last 5 years. It wasn’t that long ago we struggled to put out 2 senior teams on a Saturday and youth cricket was non existant. Credit must go to Steevn Hanna, Bruce Topping and Mansing for kick starting the turn around in youth cricket. However now is the time we have to keep working and not sit back on our laurels so hopefully Donaghcloney can continue to prosper.”

Matt Lyttle with 6 for 32

Saturday saw Donaghcloney travel to Lurgan Park to play Victoria in a league competition for the first time in over 20 years. Donaghcloney and Victoria were both keen to win for very different reasons. Donaghcloney need to keep winning to secure promotion back into Section 1 while Victoria are at the other end of the table in a relegation dogfight with MillPark and Cooke Collegians. Donaghcloney won the toss and chose to bowl. Steven Lecky and David Marshall took the new ball and didn’t take long to strike. After 7 overs Victoria were 6 for 3 and in all sorts of problems before a strong stand between Ashmal (34) and Khan (30). Both players played some expansive shots and started to take the game away from Donaghcloney before Matthew Lyttle took his first of 6 wickets. He had Ashmal caught in the covers by Mansing in his second over and continued to rip the heart out of the Victoria batting. matthew bowled with great accuracy and rhythm and took wickets at regular intervals fnishing with figures of 6-32 in his 10 overs. S Lecky took the final wicket of the innings bowling out S Irwin to finish with figures of 3 for 19. Victoria had reached 118 in just 32 overs.

Philip Derby and Mansing opened the batting and it was Derby who took the attack to Victoria. He was quick to pounce on anything loose and punish it well including a six over mid wicket. Derby fell on 24 and Mansing picked up were he left of. Mansing was heading towards another half century when he was caught out for 46 in the covers of the bowling of Khan. Alan Harland and Shane Warren saw the Cloney home to an eight wicket victory to keep the them second in the league and in the promotion hunt. League details here

Last Saturday they faced BISC who had beaten the Cloney earlier in the season. The Indian side batted first and made 159. The star of the bowling was Steven Hanna who took 6 for 24 and kept the visiting team under 200. In reply Mansing scored 84 and Phil Derby 56 not out to secure a comfortable 8 wicket win.
On Friday league leaders Academy visited the Factory Ground still on a high from their Junior Cup Win. They won the toss and batted scoring 159 in the allotted 38 overs. It was the turn of Matthew Lyttle to take control of the bowling with 5 for 38 in his 8 overs. Twice Matthew was on hat-trick but both times the Academy batsmen survived. Manding lead the charge with the bat leading the way with a magnificent unbeaten 96 to secure a vital win over the league leaders.

On Saturday it was Saintfield’s turn to come to the Factory Ground and on winning the toss elected to bat. After a good start they were reduced to 137 thanks to David Marshall who had 3 for 22 and Mansing also took 3 wickets for 35 in his 10 overs.
137 never looked enough and Mansing again was at the forefront of the attack with a useful 58. Robert Lyttle scored 26 not out to secure the win with some impressive clean hitting including a massive six over mid wicket. That rounded of a great week for the Cloney and presently they lye second to Academy in the league.
Meanwhile the seconds too have had a good week with wins over Cregagh and Saintfield to see them stay top of their league. Steven Lyttle continues his successful season with the bat scoring 45 and 56 against Cregagh and Saintfield respectfully. With over 400 runs this year at an average of nearly 50 Steven’s runs have been at the heart of the second eleven success. The club would like to thank Electronic Excellence for their continued support throughout the year.